Haha!!! This tickles me in just the right spot... The fact that the psychiatrists have to play the game to get the job done is so ironic, it makes my teeth itch! And the psychiatrists are asking blizzard to waive fees? That won't happen, because in a month, at least three of the psychiatrists will be addicted, have hit level 80, and will be in the battlegrounds pwning the nubs.

Blue Sonnet:The question is whether the good publicity to be gained from showing willing by allowing psychiatrists online officially will outweigh the fact that most people being treated will have the ultimate aim of staying offline for good (addiction treatment tends to follow this unless you cannot avoid the addiction, i.e. shopping).

You know, I wonder if those psychiatrists will pick up the habit of trolling/griefing..

I'm personally betting this will back fire and the psychiatrists will become addicted to WOW. At the same time it could be cool to see videos of this on Youtube; the psychiatrist running after his patent in the middle of a raid and then shouting at him to save him from a high level monster that's about to kill him.

Good idea, one of the most unlikely to work yet. How exactly do you 1) figure out who in the game is addicted, 2) approach them in a way that'll make them receptive to you, 3) figure out how to bill them afterwards? (OK, assuming that the last one can be skipped and the therapists are only doing this out of the kindness of their hearts, it's still the slightest bit of problem.)

Although I agree psychologists trying to cure people of WoW addiction would be more efficient if they played the game and understood it more. More power to Blizzard if they go through with giving them discounts.

(The idea of those doctors becoming addicted themselves, I find it even more unlikely, although still hilarious.)

The Random One:3) figure out how to bill them afterwards? (OK, assuming that the last one can be skipped and the therapists are only doing this out of the kindness of their hearts, it's still the slightest bit of problem.)

More than likely that it just wasn't factored into the thinking. British psychiatrist working for the NHS, free healthcare etc.

I'd actually support this, since the thinking behind it is entirely sound. That's not to say that I think it'd work - I'd like to think it has a chance, in fact considerably more chance than dragging these people away and sending them to a shrink against their will, but y'know, nothing's guaranteed an' all.

They'd better go about it carefully, they're talking about "kids" on WoW, so it probably means if these "kids" feel like they're being pressured they'll end up with "OMG you pedo leave me alone /block"

While I get where the psychiatrists are coming from and applaud them for thinking outside the box, this sounds like it would fail as fast as setting up a fat camp with no fences next to a Denny's would.

For one, Blizzard would have to make it possible for the doctors to be bypass the ignore function so their patients couldn't just stop listening.

well it's either that or be like China and regulate the amount of time people are allowed to play in a given day. I think the limit over there is only about three hours a day then your serer access shuts down automatically.

Fanusc101:To be honest, I'd be a bit apprehensive about telling an orc my problems.

why? as long as your not a weakling gnome you have nothing to worry about :D

but, is it me, or does this seem to just be another bid to get to play the game for free? I mean if they really wanted to help people they would have a dedicated website with a 24/7 chat function, not telling kids to stop playing a game while IN THE SAME GAME.

I laughed at the headline. But then I was like, Hey that might work." Then I realised all the potential problems. How will a psychiatrist stand out? What If someone just calls themselves a psychiatrist and tries to get in-game money from them. Plus, If you're addicted, you don't want people to start telling you to get off the computer in the game itself. People would just run away from the psychiatrists I think.

Man, I describe myself as a WoW addict and I can only play for a few hours before I get bored, and some nights I just can't be effed to log on. It occurs to me that this problem has got to come from something outside WoW, because i'm in a guild of addicts and we call off entire raids because 'We can't be bothered tonight, go PUG VoA bitches'. As Theuromancer(sp?) said, concern over addiction to new forms of entertainment is rife, but I seriously doubt that more than the barest fraction of players have a 16-hour habit. I doubt even more that the problem lies with WoW, or can be treated as such. I don't think any player can truly stand 16 hours in a row and stay sane.

The Great JT:Isn't that like having a radiation fallout clinic on a nuclear bomb test range?

Internet Kraken:This like telling someone to go on a diet while working at McDonalds.

OOOH, OOOH, I GOT ONE!

This is like having your next AA meeting at an Open Bar.

I'm glad I'm not doing this. I would act like a GM, tell the party to go out in the real world and find someone with a Gold Exclamation Mark over their head to receive their next quest from me. At least it would get them outside.

Like all people who never experienced something first hand, I don't know what it's like to be addicted to WoW. I played it, I've seen it, and I was unimpressed the seven different times someone tried to get me into it.

But I do know that you don't expose someone to something they are weak to in efforts to help them. You don't talk about a poker game to a gambler, you don't go to a smoking section for someone who's trying to kick the habit, and taking a sex addict to a strip club is both wrong... and funny. You're just giving those people who want to stay in that world more than anything a valid excuse to logging in.

The Great JT:Isn't that like having a radiation fallout clinic on a nuclear bomb test range?

[quote="Internet Kraken" post="7.127658.2718574"]

Like all people who never experienced something first hand, I don't know what it's like to be addicted to WoW. I played it, I've seen it, and I was unimpressed the seven different times someone tried to get me into it.

I agree, I never liked WoW, and I really tried to. I was disappointed by it's failure to grab me like it seems to grab a third of the free world now.

To be honest, i think that the best thing to try and do is get people to play the game less rather than completly quit altogether.

also i agree with the people that are saying its not the games fault, but probably its effectivly a place to go for people who have problems socialising or to get away from the pile of shit that real life is.

I do find the idea of having in-game shrinks quite funny but it could work, it will be interesting to see a shrink advertising in trade chat in stormwind .and to quote terry pratchets 'guards guards'-" its a million to one chance but it just might work"better understood if you read the book but whatever.

My shenanigans detector is going off; sounds like some psychiatrist just wants to play for free.

I don't really see what the fuss is, theres not that much harm in playing it extensively. Its easy to monitor and stop them if they are skipping school to play it, but other than that, kids could be doing a lot worse than sitting in their bedrooms at a computer. And its not like they aren't interacting with people; they are just doing it in an unconventional way.